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. 1999 Mar 2;713(1):192–198. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(95)01535-3

Selective induction of interleukin-6 in mouse microglia by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Akio Suzumura a,b,∗, Makoto Sawada b, Tohru Marunouchi b
PMCID: PMC7111018  PMID: 8724991

Abstract

Astrocytes produce granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and support the survival and proliferation of microglia. To study the functions of GM-CSF in the central nervous system (CNS), we examined the effects of GM-CSF on cytokine production by glial cells. GM-CSF induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by microglia, but not by astrocytes, in a dose-dependent manner as assessed by bioassay and the detection of IL-6 mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. GM-CSF did not induce tumor necrosis factor (TNF)a or IL-1 in microglia and astrocytes, whereas lipopolysaccharide induced all these cytokines. The induction of IL-6 by GM-CSF in microglia was completely inhibited by antibodies to GM-CSF. Neither IL-3 nor macrophage-CSF (M-CSF) induced IL-6 production in microglia. Given that IL-1 and TNFα, monokines derived from microglia, induce IL-6 production in astrocytes, but not in microglia, results indicate that astrocytes and microglia may mutually regulate IL-6 production by different cytokines.

Keywords: Microglia, interleukin-6, Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, Cytokine, Astrocyte

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